Complaints and compliments

The Department provides a wide range of services to the people of the Island therefore your views about the service you receive from our staff are important to us. You can help us by letting us know how you found our service. What went well and not so well and what went wrong? We aim to get things right but if for any reason things go wrong, we want to know, so that we can learn from the experience. By listening to your opinions we can identify improvements needed. We really value your views.

You may be invited to take part in a patient satisfaction survey. If so, please take this opportunity to give us your opinions in complete confidence. We will be pleased to receive your comments and suggestions at any time.

For advice on a second opinion please talk to the consultant doctor currently responsible for your care. Where possible a second opinion will be sought from an on-Island consultant doctor. Where a second opinion is sought from an off-Island consultant doctor, a desktop review of scans, tests, results etc. or video conference would be the initial approach, rather than sending a patient to the UK.

Compliments / suggestions / comments

If you wish to make a comment about a service, or if you want to compliment any of our services, you can do one of two things:

Tell the person who provides you with the service what you think;

Write to the manager of the service with your comments or compliments.

Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with any aspect of the service or treatment, we hope you will raise these issues with the staff caring for you so that they can put things right at once. If you prefer to raise your concerns with the senior manager please ask.

Who can complain?

Any child or young person receiving or wanting a service from us under the Children & Young Persons Act 2001

The parent or carer of a child receiving or wanting a service from us, and who has parental responsibility;

Anyone who is acting on behalf of a child receiving or wanting a service such as a foster parent or advocate who has an interest in the child’s welfare;

An adult or older person receiving or wanting a service from us

The relative or carer of an adult or older person receiving or wanting a service from us;

Anyone who is appointed by the adult or older person to act as an advocate for them.

What will happen next?

There are three stages to the complaints process.

STAGE 1 – ResolutionYou can make your complaint:

Over the telephone

In writing

In person

By e-mail.

We would ask you to tell us why you are unhappy and what you would like us to do to put it right.

Your complaint will be acknowledged within three working days and the person looking into it will talk to you about your complaint and how we can put things right.

We aim to resolve complaints at Stage 1 in 20 days.

The majority of complaints are resolved at the first stage.

STAGE 2 – Investigation

At the end of Stage 1, if you are not satisfied with the outcome, you can ask for you complaint to be investigated further.

An investigating officer will then be asked to look into your complaint.

Once we are sure of what you want us to look into, this investigation will then start. You should receive a report within 28 working days telling you:

What was found

What the Department has decided to do about it.

Why the decisions were reached.

If your complaint is complicated, this may take longer than 28 days. The investigating officer will keep you informed about any delays.

STAGE 3 – Review Panel

If you are unhappy with the Stage 2 reply and you would like an independent person to look into your complaint. To request this you must apply within 4 weeks of receiving the written report to Stage 2.

The independent person will then:

Re-examine the concerns raised in the complaint.

Talk to all parties involved in the complaint.

Seek specialist advice if required.

Once they have gathered all of the necessary information, they will prepare a report which you should receive within 28 working days telling you:

The result of their investigations.

Any appropriate comments and conclusions.

Any appropriate recommendations.

The independent investigating officer’s findings are final.

If your concerns have not been dealt with to your satisfaction, you may make a formal written complaint to the Patient Safety and Governance Manager.

Independent review body

Details of how to make a complaint are provided in a the downloadable document which is also available in most healthcare settings.

Initially you should tell someone close to the cause of your complaint, in many cases it should be possible to sort out the problem for you straightaway. If this does not resolve your concerns you can contact the Patient Safety and Governance Manager for further advice or put your complaint in writing to:

This is called local resolution, which gives you the right to have a comprehensive written reply detailing the outcome of your complaint. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of local resolution, you can apply for your complaint to be considered by the Independent Review Body.

Your request for an independent review of your complaint will be considered by a Convenor, who will ask you to explain in writing why you are not satisfied with the outcome of local resolution. The Convenor will consider if any other local resolution action might resolve your problem. If not, the Convenor will call an Independent Review of your complaint by a special panel.

The Independent Review Body Panel, if convened, will consist of three people who are independent of the Department of Health, a Chairperson, a Convenor and one other person (a lay member). The Panel will also obtain any specialist advice which it feels is needed. After the hearing a report will be prepared setting out the results of the investigation, together with its conclusions and any. Further details of the role of the Independent Review Body are contained in the downloadable patient leaflet.

The Independent Review Body can be contacted in writing at the following address: